Football: Wildcats ground Birdville

Guyer quarterback Jerrod Heard, left, falls into the end zone for a touchdown against Birdville on Saturday in the Class 4A Division I Region I final at Dragon Stadium in Southlake. Guyer won 52-42 and will face Tyler John Tyler in the state semifinals.

Guyer advances to Class 4A semifinals with 52-42 victory

SOUTHLAKE — Guyer’s defensive coaches likely won’t be happy
with the way the Wildcats closed Saturday’s state quarterfinal against a potent
Birdville offense.

But a look at its performance in the third quarter is all it
takes to realize the Wildcats’ defense played a big part in their 52-42 win to
advance to the Class 4A Division I semifinals.

After taking a 31-21 lead into halftime, Guyer coach John
Walsh told his defense it needed to make one stop, as Birdville started the
second half with possession. Instead, the Wildcats made two.

“That’s the key to the game right there,” said Walsh, whose
team shut out Birdville in the third quarter. “We told them at halftime that in
order to win the game, there had to be a stop as soon as we came out of the
locker room, and we got two. They might have scored 42 points, but the defense
came through right after half, and that was huge for momentum.”

Guyer (12-2) advances to play Tyler John Tyler (13-1) at
7:30 p.m. Friday at Midlothian for the right to play in the state championship
game Dec. 22 at Arlington’s Cowboys Stadium. It marks the fourth time in five
years Guyer has reached at least the state semifinals.

“The ultimate goal is to win it all, but I’m real proud to
say our program has been to the state semifinal four of the last five years,
and there’s not many programs that can say that,” Walsh said.

The Wildcats advanced thanks, in large part, to those key
defensive stops coming out of halftime — one on a three-and-out and the other
coming on fourth-and-15 from the Guyer 21. Six plays later, Guyer extended its
lead to 38-21 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jerrod Heard to Ellis Jefferson,
who had set the score up with 49-yard reception on the previous play.

But the story of Guyer’s game, offensively, was the usual
suspect: a punishing ground game that rolled up a season-high 428 yards on 40
carries.

Heard led the way with 171 yards on 17 carries, scoring
twice, while running back D.J. Breedlove racked up 158 yards and a score on 15
carries.

Breedlove set the tone early as he broke off an 84-yard
touchdown run on the game’s third offensive play to give Guyer the early lead.

“I split the secondary, and like [running backs coach
Oschlor] Flemming said, I have one guy to beat and that’s the safety, and if I
win, that’s a touchdown,” Breedlove said. “I just took that advice and ended up
scoring on it.”

Walsh talked all week about the size Birdville (13-1) had up
front defensively. It was the biggest defensive front Guyer has seen this year,
but it didn’t matter.

“The line just did a really good job, and I just made the
most of it,” Breedlove said. “I have the best offensive line. I have a lot of
confidence in them. They’re just really good. Their defensive line was good,
but they just couldn’t match us up front.”

Heard didn’t do all of his damage on the ground, as the
Texas-bound junior completed 11 of 15 pass attempts for 172 yards and three
touchdowns.

“When you get in these [playoff] ballgames,” Walsh said, “I
try to protect him [Heard] as much as we can, but he’s our stud quarterback and
we’re in stud ballgames, and he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing and
taking over.”

While the offense stole the show for most of the game,
Guyer’s defense got a big boost from junior defensive end Thomas Ferguson, who
was matched up with Birdville left tackle Joas Aguilar, who has committed to
Texas A&M.

Giving up about 75 pounds to Aguilar, Ferguson had two key
third-down sacks that led to Guyer touchdowns on the ensuing drives.

“Ferguson was going against their very best football
player,” Walsh said. “That guy’s going to Texas A&M, so for him [Ferguson]
to make those drive-stopping plays was huge for us.”

Ultimately, Walsh said, he might not have liked what he saw
from his defense in the fourth quarter, but the fact that his team is playing
next week will allow him to live with it.

“I think defensively we did a great job at halftime and in
the third [quarter] of making adjustments and getting stops,” Walsh said. “They
made some timely trick plays that kept them in the game and their offense was
tough, even when you’re playing good defense.

“We should’ve closed out better in the fourth. They did a
great job executing, and they’re really good offensively. To come out 10 points
ahead, I don’t care if it’s 52-42 or 12-2. I don’t care.”

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